Category: Shoes

It’s that time of year again when I get out my leather stuff and start making sandals (while still wrapped in wool). These are my son’s new sandals. In this post I share my process of making a sandal pattern using lasts.

Share this:

These knotted strap sandals I made for my teenage daughter. Every time I make her a pair of sandals she gets out fabric scraps and cardboard and builds her own sandals that she wears proudly around the house.

Share this:

I’ve wanted to try weaving with leather strips for some time and finally decided to make my son’s new sandals this way. Most of the leather for the sandal tops is from my leather scrap box, so I used up some oddly shaped pieces that I couldn’t make anything with anymore.

Share this:

I can’t wait to get out of socks and boots and into sandals! Here I made tooled one-strap sandals for my children’s grandmother who lives on the other side of the world in Chile, they are in the middle of summer now…

Tooling leather straps is one way of adding sparkle to your leather projects. It’s taken me so long to find out about all the different ways to decorate leather that I thought I document whatever new I learn with each project I undertake.

Here is one way to tool leather to get the look you see on the sandals above.

Share this:

Making shoes is one of my favourite crafts. Twice a year when the seasons change I make new ones for my children, either winter or summer shoes. They outgrow them so fast!

These I made for my daughter in autumn colours, using brick-red, ochre mixed with cream pearl and cranberry for heel covers (see below where to find them). The edges I impressed with leather stamps to give them something extra.

The lining is thin leather, I had only bits of different colours left, as you might notice in the photo above. Looks kind of funny, but then who will notice.

Share this:

Making children’s shoes is especially rewarding because you know what they are made of. Most shoes offered today consist of synthetic, glued together components that aren’t healthy for a growing and more vulnerable body. Wearing shoes made of such material often leads to sweaty (and sometimes smelly) feet.